Railroad workers and unions are ramping up pressure on the US Congress and Joe Biden to address poor working conditions in the wake of the recent move to block a strike when Congress voted to impose a contract agreement.
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Why are rail workers striking? Unions say they want a pay offer reflecting the rising cost of living. But the rail industry is under pressure to save money, after the pandemic left a hole in its finances. The industry says changes to ways of working need to be agreed in order for pay to go up.
The 2022 United States railroad labor dispute was a labor dispute between freight railroads and workers in the United States. Rail companies and unions had tentatively agreed to a deal in September 2022, but it was rejected by a majority of the unions' rank-and-file members.
Unless a deal on pay, job security and working conditions is reached between unions and rail operators, it's likely that strikes could continue for the rest of 2023.
A potential strike could lead to $2 billion a day in lost economic output, according to the Association of American Railroads, which lobbies on behalf of rail companies. Freight railroads are responsible for carrying 40% of the nation's long-haul freight and a work stoppage could jeopardize these shipments.
For years, freight rail workers weren't allowed to call in sick the morning of their shift. They could, however, get approval weeks in advance to take paid personal days. CSX was the first to grant paid sick days to several of its unions and has now granted sick days to 61% of its 17,089 unionized employees.
Railway services, airport staff, train drivers, universities, and junior doctors are all set to go on strike during the month of September. The set of strikes comes shortly after RMT and ASLEF train strikes, junior doctors and airport ground workers went on strike in August.
While trucking and shipping companies have begun to recover from these issues, the railroad industry has struggled more in 2022 than it did at the beginning of the pandemic.
In a world becoming ever more urbanised, rail travel is well matched to urban needs. High-speed rail can serve as an alternative to short-distance air travel, and conventional and freight rail can complement other transport modes to provide efficient mobility.
The railroads, which haul about 40% of the nation's freight each year, estimated that a rail strike would cost the economy $2bn a day in a report issued earlier this fall.
Only the nation's freight rail lines face a pending strike, but commuters would likely be affected, too. Many commuter trains travel on tracks maintained and operated by the freight railroads and passenger railroads expect they'll have to shut down their operations once the freight strike starts.